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1 edit | [Rant] Do not go for vacation to Hong Kong After spending my 1 week in Hong Kong for a vacation trip, I find this city as "Asia's world city" is overrated and not worth spending big bugs on travel unless you go there for business trip.
First thing, even though it has history of long past British colonism, the Peak, colonial buildings, it does not look like it has much left of "british influence". Its basically China. You need to know Chinese to effectively understand and speak to locals. Some locals speak English, especially in hotel and tourist industry but most speak it not very well. Don't try to say more than one sentence otherwise they go crazy.
In photos, you see unbelievable dense big expansive skyline with modern skyscrapers, but once you get there you can't take pictures because on most days the air is full of smog. From the Peak, I could only see maybe Hong Kong Island but not much of Kowloon.
The streets, sidewalks are dirty. The food is dirty especially on street. And for some reason, even though I did not touch on street food, I got food-born illness within first 2 days I got there. I had to get to hospital urgent clinic and get antibiotic prescription.
Shopping there is definitely no no. On average everything is on par or more expensive than in States. For ex for electronics, that is if you look at major reputable stores like Fortress.
But I had there no problem easily running into a few small "black shops" that employ deceitful tactics to sell you stuff at artificially high absurd prices.
On top of that, return policy in most stores suck. The best what you can get is 7 day exchange in store for warranty. You cannot return things after purchase, especially once you open a box.
As for sightseeing, visiting, there are a few things there to do and see but not much. They are worth visiting if you happen to go there and have time, but don't go there just to see them.
The Peak, the Peak tram, Star Ferry, Star Avenue, Big Buddha with Po Lin Monastery, Macau, Ngong Ping 360 are all fun but that's it.
For dining, even some restaurants in major high traffic areas in business center will not serve you well unless you speak Chinese. This happened to me in IFC!
So do yourself a favor and if you are going next time to a major city to have a blast, pleasant big city experience, go somewhere else. Hong Kong is not too good for tourists and I definitely I would not want to study or live there. |
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 CylonRedPremium,MVM
join:2000-07-06
Bloom County | Funny thing - I knew most of these facts and I have not been there... Their smog is legendary (they burn a HUGE amount of coal for power) - did you not see the olympics? They nearly had to cancel some of the long distance running because of the smog, smog that was plainly visible tot he camera at street level.
BTW - I find many big cities to be the same thing - expensive, dirty and all have questionable food somewhere frankly. The only really nice large city I have been to was San Fran. But I find Chicago, NY, LA to be dirty, unfriendly places.
"For dining, even some restaurants in major high traffic areas in business center will not serve you well unless you speak English. This happened to me in IFC!"
The above should have been ok for you it seems...
--
Brian
"It drops into your stomach like a Abrams's tank.... driven by Rosanne Barr..." A. Bourdain |
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| said by CylonRed:"For dining, even some restaurants in major high traffic areas in business center will not serve you well unless you speak English Chinese . This happened to me in IFC!"
The above should have been ok for you it seems...
Lol. I corrected my blunder. I was talking about Chinese language. |
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| reply to CylonRed
said by CylonRed:Funny thing - I knew most of these facts and I have not been there... Their smog is legendary (they burn a HUGE amount of coal for power) - did you not see the olympics?
Which olympics? I may not remember.
said by CylonRed:BTW - I find many big cities to be the same thing - expensive, dirty and all have questionable food somewhere frankly. The only really nice large city I have been to was San Fran. But I find Chicago, NY, LA to be dirty, unfriendly places.
I live in Chicago area, I find Chicago to be cleaner than NYC (which I also have been to), its relatively clean. The Loop is little dirty, but if you go nice places like River North, Lincoln Park they're clean. Even Magnificent Mile along Water Tower is very clean area. I have spent a lot of nights there where I have seen trucks sweeping roads and workers flushing sidewalks from dirt.
Lakefront trail along Lake Michigan is great for sports in summer. I enjoy biking and sunbathing there.
But anyway here are comparing not just cities but also countries. We talk about the city that is very well known in the world as a big city in Asia with British heritage, though after having been there I hardly see there. |
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CylonRedPremium,MVM
join:2000-07-06
Bloom County | The summer olympics before the London olympics....
Brittan has not been involved in China for a good while. The Chinese have their own culture and is very old. In all of the pictures I have seen of China - I don't see the influence you expected and I have no idea what 'British heritage' you expected.
--
Brian
"It drops into your stomach like a Abrams's tank.... driven by Rosanne Barr..." A. Bourdain |
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 NS4683
join:2000-08-25
South Amboy, NJ | said by CylonRed:The summer olympics before the London olympics....
Brittan has not been involved in China for a good while. The Chinese have their own culture and is very old. In all of the pictures I have seen of China - I don't see the influence you expected and I have no idea what 'British heritage' you expected.
The Olympics were in Hong Kong? I thought the games were in Beijing. |
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CylonRedPremium,MVM
join:2000-07-06
Bloom County
2 edits | They were in China but the problems of China (smog etc...) are going to be the same in Hong Kong.
I will note that British involvement in Hong Kong lasted longer than I thought...  |
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 I AMPremium
join:2010-04-11
Ephrata, PA
kudos:4 | reply to chgo_man99
You can say all the stuff about America (not directed at OP) but truth is we still have some of the best cities in the world. We take a lot of the stuff we have for granted. Just clean water to drink from the tap is overlooked. |
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| reply to CylonRed
The Olympics were in Beijing, not Hong Kong. They are 1200 miles apart, or roughly half the distance from New York to LA. |
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CylonRedPremium,MVM
join:2000-07-06
Bloom County | Already determined to be Hong Kong - though many miles apart they have much of the same issues... |
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 Cthen
join:2004-08-01
Detroit, MI
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| reply to chgo_man99
said by chgo_man99: You need to know Chinese to effectively understand and speak to locals. Some locals speak English, especially in hotel and tourist industry but most speak it not very well. Don't try to say more than one sentence otherwise they go crazy.
So you go to a foreign country and you expect the whole population to speak English just for you? Why didn't you bother to learn Chinese as you would probably expect them to learn English if they were to come to the U.S.?
Did you finally learn the lesson that the whole world does not revolve around you?
--
"I like to refer to myself as an Adult Film Efficienato." - Stuart Bondek |
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I AMPremium
join:2010-04-11
Ephrata, PA
kudos:4 | Are you saying the whole world doesn't speak English? WTF! |
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| said by I AM:Are you saying the whole world doesn't speak English? WTF!
you're kidding right? |
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| reply to chgo_man99
Re: [Rant] Do not go for vacation to Hong Kong Comedy! |
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| reply to I AM
After visiting China, I'm more proud to be American (well Polish American), we may have a lot of issues but we have some of the best foundations that made our country great!
As for English, many places in tourist industry require knowledge of foreign language, sometimes not just English especially in Europe. So yeah it's reasonable to expect it. |
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billsPremium
join:2000-08-19
China | reply to Cthen
This ^
In China now. I will bet there are more Chinese that speak English (albeit many broken) than there are Americans that speak Chinese. |
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CylonRedPremium,MVM
join:2000-07-06
Bloom County
1 edit | reply to chgo_man99
I think you idea that they should know English well, is really not very reasonable...
I know a pastry chef who does culinary tours of other countries like Italy. He does visit major tourist cities and he goes off the beaten path. You can learn how to make fresh pasta from 85 year old grandmothers who do not know a LICK of English but are in major tourist cities.
In Europe - there is no rule to know different languages in tourist areas. English is know just because most business is done in English with the US being the largest economy for many decades. Many folks in Europe know more than one language because there are many countries that are so close together. Europeans know more than one language because of the close proximity of other languages. |
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2 edits | Another reason not to see HK - disappointing shopping.
I ran into annoying shops scamming money from tourists in major tourist area in Tsim Sha Tsui along Nathan Rd. Those shops operate just like any other normal shops and look legitimate. Also I could not move a block or two without getting harassed by Indians offering me to make me suits in one day "without fitting".
I did not bother to look at on-street little shops in Stanley Market or Ladies Market in Mongkok, but I did found out in Internet that what those little shops charge for any garbage there, you'll get for just about less than 1/3 of price in Mongkok without bargaining for price.
This honestly makes Best Buy's pricey retail look saint lol. I would even go as far to say as US car dealership is more "honest" than retail sale of electronics in Hong Kong. At least here there is more transparency in price and value of products you buy. |
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| reply to CylonRed
said by CylonRed:In Europe - there is no rule to know different languages in tourist areas. English is know just because most business is done in English with the US being the largest economy for many decades. Many folks in Europe know more than one language because there are many countries that are so close together. Europeans know more than one language because of the close proximity of other languages.
At my hometown where I grew up, there is a castle that attracts some tourists and to my knowledge a receptionist at a local hotel there must know 3 foreign languages (one of them English) to get hired. And this is in a small town. |
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